If you didn’t watch these movies, were you even a kid in the ’80s and ’90s?

I recently took my five-year-old son to see Mary Poppins Returns. A reboot of the original, I wasn’t sure how it would go over with my Lego and superhero obsessed guy, but he loved it too. The magic. The singing. The silliness.

It made me nostalgic for all the other movies that were the backbone of my childhood. Back when going to the movies surely didn’t cost $6 for a choc top! And not every second movie was animated.

Most of the list that follows, I watched on the brown lounges of my childhood home, eating No Frills neapolitan ice cream as a treat, with my brother and sister lying on the ground beside me.

How many of these family flicks helped shape your childhood?

The Neverending Story

A heart wrenching fantasy like no other. As one friend put it: “Had to be removed when the horse went down in the mud. Cried hysterically. Couldn’t even finish my choc top.”

ET

I gotta say this was the hallmark movie for me. It had everything – including a pint-sized, lisping Drew Barrymore. This is top of my “can’t wait to do family movie night” list. Just gotta wait another year til my little ones are a bit older, I reckon.

Home Alone

I was obsessed with the idea of being left at home by my parents after watching this movie – along with the rest of our generation. The highs and lows were perfect for my nine-year-old self. Still love watching it now!

Aladdin

I was reminded of this one by a friend who said she could pinpoint the day everyone at school started singing; ‘A Whole New World’. Oh, Disney.

The Care Bears

Speaking of Disney, Care Bears was peak Disney, no? My little sister watched this several times clutching her own pink bear.

Ghostbusters

I don’t know how I feel about suggesting this one as a kids’ movie; certainly (to sound exactly like my own parents), you’d have to be over 9 or 10 to get it (and not send your kid to bed with nightmares)? Even still. Total rite of passage movie. Epic soundtrack.

The Lion King

If you didn’t hold your newborn up to the sky and sing the bars from ‘Circle of Life’, are you even a parent? I found the drama of this movie too much for my kids (under five), but each to their own. A truly lovely story, though.

The Princess Bride

How did we ever understand the nuances of this movie as children? I guess we didn’t. My lingering memory is Robin Wright’s gorgeous blue dress and her half-up and half-down hairdo. Easily watchable as an adult, a five-star movie in my book.

The Land Before Time

The first thing that sprang to mind when a friend suggested this as her fave childhood movie was the McDonalds Happy Meal toys that came out with it! Didn’t EVERYONE want the full collection? A fab choice for your dinosaur obsessed kiddos.